Iontophoresis (Acta Dermatol Venereol, vol. 64, p. 93, 1984) and electroporation (domestic republication No. H-03-502416 of PCT international application, Proc. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 90, pp. 10504 to 10508, 1993) teach a treatment method for introducing a medicine and a physiologically active ingredient into a living body through skin or mucous membrane using electrical energy. There is also known a method for observing the patient's condition by taking out a diagnosing substance from a living body using the same principle as just mentioned above (Nature Medicine vol. 1, pp. 1198 to 1201, 1995). In those methods, an electrode device is necessarily used for applying an electrical energy.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-316991
Patent Document 1 discloses an idea for making an electrode device of this type disposable while an external power supply such is designed as to be used repeatedly. The disposable electrode device includes an electrode part at its bottom part and a support provided with a recess which is open upward. A medicine holding layer containing and holding a medicine, etc. therein is arranged in the recess. The recess with the medicine holding layer arranged therein is hermetically covered at an upper part thereof with a cover member. For use, the cover member is peeled off so that the medicine holding layer can contact the living body. The cover member is bonded to a flange part of the support and the recess is hermetically sealed.
In the electrode device of this type, the holding ability of the medicine holding layer can be increased with respect to the support since the medicine holding layer containing and holding a medicine, etc. therein (namely, medicine holding layer containing an electrolyte) is put into the recess. In actual practice, however, it is difficult to contact the entire upper surface of the medicine holding layer with the living body closely (the problem of contacting with the living body). It is because the top part of the medicine holding layer in the recess is generally flat with the height of the opening part of the recess.
Moreover, the support for supporting the medicine holding layer includes an electrode layer adapted to apply an electrical energy to the medicine holding layer. This electrode layer extends from inside the recess to outside the recess. The support for supporting the medicine holding layer and the cup covering an upper part thereof are, in general, joined by heat sealing or bonding. For use, the cup is peeled off the support. At the time of peeling off the cup from the support, the electrode layer is frequently subjected to damage (the problem of damage given to the electrode layer).